children
Children: Our most valuable natural resource.
How Are New Mums Adapting to the New Normal?
For new parents, lockdown has been a surreal time. On one hand, many parents have been able to work from home or have been furloughed, allowing them more time than ever to focus on their precious new arrival. On the other hand, however, the pandemic has brought with it many uncertainties and unexpected worries for new parents.
By Alicia Walker5 years ago in Families
Creating Magic
When I was little, I would dream of Faeries and worlds where magick was everywhere. Where hag stones were portals to Faerie realms and voices whispered and sang on the wind. There was music playing and hidden pathways, faerie rings and magick potions. I would read The Magic Faraway tree and long for friends like Silky and Moon face. Hours were spent in the long grass, chatting with lady bugs and laying still so the Fae wouldn’t be scared away. At some point in time, we are all told to put childish things away. We are told that faeries and magick aren’t real, and that its time to grow up. Dolls are put away and stories are left on the shelf. The thing is, I never did that. And over the years I’ve created magick in different forms. Painting, drawing, mini fashions for dolls. But none quite gave me the same joy I experienced when I was a little girl.
By Lauren Bluett5 years ago in Families
Gerald III, The Turkey
If you are wondering what Gerald III, the Turkey's story is, please keep reading. I was asked for help by my teenage daughter, as she was working on schoolwork and had some math that she did not understand. However, after more than one attempt to explain it, I gave in to the art that she was so much more interested in at the moment than the concept of FOIL I was trying to teach her. I guess we could say that math lesson was "foiled" in a manner of speaking, but sometimes I guess we need to let their creativity come out and step away from the school "process" a little bit. Learning the "classic" way (I could say loosely, pencil and paper and sitting for prolonged periods) can take a toll. I ended up helping her color her "hand-print turkey" and the idea of posting a story on vocal media came to my mind. It was actually kind of fun to sit and color on a dry erase board. Unplanned, quality time moments like these are something that I am learning to enjoy. I think it could be a lesson for us all to occasionally just let our minds drift away from pressure and schedules and just spontaneously do something and let ourselves wind down. As a college student working towards an education degree, it is a useful lesson to me to learn to let students just take a breather. This was a casual happening, when she was more interested in drawing a hand-print turkey than listening to me explain the math problems that she did not understand, that I wanted to turn into a story. A little free time can be helpful. I know this from experience. If I have been working on my college work for a while, just getting away from it for a bit and moving around or doing something else can help me regain my focus. I know that there are times when we need student focus and I know to a certain extent learning is important, but so are those connector moments that strengthen relationships, after all, what is she more likely to remember, mom stopped a math lesson and colored with me or how to solve (xy-3)(xy+3)? Something for thought...
By Tabitha Ilges5 years ago in Families
Hold Your Breath
Hard Days My first day of kindergarten was hard. I needed my mother, hence the temper tantrum. I thought she had abandoned me in some monstrous brick and mortar building, old, void of love. Yanked by the arm, I was dragged off to an unknown destination for a meet and greet with the PrincipaI, Mr. Brooks. What an intimidating introduction. I, a young black girl, and he, a rotund white haired elderly Caucasian man, with a scowling red face. Me, with my tiny, scrawny body, arms and legs, resisting with tremendous strength though, even with the vise-like grip on my arm. It was a hard day. Five year olds are not supposed to have hard days.
By Cheryl Barnette5 years ago in Families
Balloons
I like to think about them sometimes, the balloons. The only balloon I remember from my childhood was the balloon I got while waiting for my parents to find me when I was lost at the State Fair. I remember getting lost, following someone who looked like my dad but wasn't my dad, and then realizing that fact, and being lost. I don't remember how I was found by the people who gave me the balloon and I actually don't remember my parents coming and getting me from the tent where I was waiting. I do remember, though, that the balloon had been tied around my wrist so that I wouldn't lose it. Only I lost it. It came untied, and as we were walking away from the tent, the balloon slipped off my wrist and floated up into the air, drifting away.
By Briane Pagel5 years ago in Families
MOMMY! WHERE'S MY SCISSORS?!
Want to know how to create your own happiness at three o' clock in the morning? All you have to do is have a beautiful, outgoing, and fashion obsessed daughter that wakes up in the middle of the night to create outfits for her dolls! Yep! That's right! My beautiful 7 year old daughter, Miracle, loves to create all different types of outfits... especially when she is supposed to be in bed. "Mommy, wanna see my new creation?" she always says when I walk into the kitchen. Of course I would like to say, "Miracle! Get to bed.. NOW!", but knowing how passionate she is about making fashion just makes me smile and embrace all that she is doing in that moment and makes me want to join in. Our favorite way to create her masterpieces is by turning it into a game; I give her a theme or event to create an outfit for, and she gets to designing and cutting her fabric. "Mommy! Where's my scissors?" is most definitely something you will hear while visiting our house. For some reason, my daughter's most prize possession, her scissors, are the ONE thing that ALWAYS ends up missing. Perhaps it is because she takes them everywhere: to her aunts, her mimi's house, and even in our back yard. Unlike most children who would enjoy to go to a park, a cool arcade, or some kid friendly place, Miracle would rather take a trip to Jo Ann Fabrics or another fabric/craft store to get new supplies for her fashion creations. Miracle's personality is definitely like no other. When she was about to start preschool, we made the decision to send her to a private school; the same school that both of her oldest cousins attended. But at only age 4, Miracle started to cry at the thought of it and when I asked her why she replied, " I will have to wear the same ugly outfit every day momma and I want to be able to pick out my hair bow to make sure it matches my outfit every day." At that very moment, I made a quick decision to change her to public schooling for that upcoming year. The smile that showed upon her face while shopping for school clothing that year will be a memory that I will never forget. Every morning she would wake up and be so excited to pick out her outfit and hair ties and bows to match. When we would go into a store, I started to notice that she would touch a lot of the clothing we would walk by to see what the felt like. She would make comments like, "Wow! That feels so soft! I bet my doll would like to have an outfit like that!" and I would reply, "Well you can always make an outfit for your doll." After about a week or so, I woke up in the middle of the night to a sound that was coming from the kitchen. Miracle had her scissors in her hand and had cut up half of her own clothing and was making outfits for her dolls. I'm sure that at that time the look on my face was priceless, but I had remembered what I said a few days prior and decided to see what the new doll's dresses looked like. To my surprise, they were beyond beautiful and I decided to join in on the fun! From that point on, it has been a new way to create our own happiness. I am so blessed to be Miracle (the designer's) mommy!
By Angela Miller5 years ago in Families
The Deadline
When our eldest was born, I remember my partner expressing disappointment that he didn't have anything from his own childhood to pass on to our son. Growing up, Nolan and his family never stayed in one place for very long. Their sleeping arrangements shifted regularly between garages, living room floors, shelters, housing projects, and ultimately a compact car, fixed up and shared amongst the three boys, their mother, father, and two cats.
By Katya Nasedkin5 years ago in Families
